Illusion device



Junie 12, 1923.

H. GOLDIN ILLUSION DEVICE Filed Sent. 9. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 A /f m 0 7 WW N INVENTOR H.GOLmN ILLUS ION DEVICE June 12, 1923.

Filed Sent. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 12, 1923. 1,458,575

4 H. GOLDIN ILLUSION DEVICE Filed Sent. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR /W ZMWA.

A TTOR/VEP June 12, 1923. 1,458,575

H. GOLDIN ILLUS ION DEVICE Filed Sept. 9. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR a y i A TTORNE Y I tainer sawed in half and pulled apart; and

Y of sawing the box in half.- After the box has been sawed in two it may be desirable to Fatented June 12, 1923. 7

UNITED STATES HOBACE GOLDIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ILLUSION nnvrcn.

Application filed September 9, 1921. Serial No. 499,481.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HORACE GoLDIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Illusion Device, of which the following is a specification.

i The invention relates to a means for performing an illusion on a stage or elsewhere. Specifically, the invention is an apparatus in the form of a box whereby a person or object can be placed within and the container cut substantially in half, giving the effect to the audience of cutting the person or object in half.

In the drawings, forming a part hereof:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the device;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view;

Fig. 3 is aniend elevation looking from the rlght;

Fig. 4 is anend the left;

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1:,

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view, taken on the line 77 of Fig. 2, showing the conelevation looking from Fig. Sis an elevation of a panel. The reference numeral 1 indicates an oblong box or compartment made as shallow as possible to give the effect of atable. The box is provided with legs 2, and with a pair of hinged doors 3 (Figs 5 and 6) in its top toward one end. Secured upon the top are strips 4, which act as guides for keeping the comparatively deep upper box 5 in position.

The upper box 5 is oblong and deep, and is provided with a pair of hinged doors 6 in its bottom, said doors being directly. over the doors 3 in the [lower box,'and both sets of doors being hinged to swing upward into the interior ofthe box 5. Stops 7 projecting from the doors prevent them from sagging. The top of the box 5 is formed by two hin d lids 8, each covering substantially .hal the interior, and preferably hinged at one of the lon sides, which will be termed the back. Loc 9 in front fasten these lids closed.

Each of the ends of'the upper box has sliding panels. Referring to t e right-hand end, the panel 10, as shown in Fi 3, occupies approximately the upper ha f of this end, and has apertures 11 for the arins of the person placed in the upper box to project through. This panel has a sliding tongue and groove connection. 12 with the sides of the box, permitting it to be readily moved upward. The lower or fixed part 13 of this end has a larger opening 14 for the neck.

The opposite end of the box, as seen in Fig. 4, is constructed in the same manner, except that the panel 15 may be somewhat deeper and lacks the openings 11, while a pair of apertures 16 are provided in the lower fixed panel 17 for the feet of the person in the box, to project through. A similar tongue and groove arrangement 18 is provided for readily sliding the movable panel into or out of place.

, Each end of the box has on its fixed part a-pair of handles 19 for lifting.

, In order to prevent actually sawing the box 5 in two each time the device is used, this box is made in two halves, separating transversely, and where the front'and rear sides of the twosections abut each other pockets are formed by grooves in the abutting or proximate ends for slipping in two tongues 20, preferably in theform of a wooden, strip. It is these bridging strips which are actually severed in the operation separate the sections. Uprights 21, having grooves 22, are provided inside upon the proximate portions of the front and rear walls, for the reception of vertically sliding panels 23, to conceal the interior of the box when separated: In order that these panels 23 ma be readily inserted, there are small hinged doors 24 in the covers 8, which when opened give access to the grooves 22.

Catches 25 are located near the bottom of the sections for connecting them together, so that the upper box may be raised bodily by the handles 19. I

In the right-handsection, secured to the uprights 21, adjacent the plane of separa-.

tion, are inward extensions 26 which act asfoot rests for the person within the box.

In the operation of the device, preparatory to the exhibition, a person is concealed in the lower box 1. The covers 8 arethrown.

open and the panels 10 and 15 removed. A second person maynow be lowered in the box in sight of theaudience, his or her head projecting from theopening 14 a (1 his feet. from the openings 16. As part 0 the stage him can hurt him in this condition.

panel is then slid down into position and the persons arms put through the openings 11; and, for better effect, theymay be held out by an assistant to the operator performing the trick. The panel 15 is also inserted, and the covers 8 are closed and locked by the locks 9. As soon as the covers 8 are lowered, the person in the upper box, while that end of the box is away from the audience, draws his, feet from the openings 16, back onto the foot rests 26, so'that this person is entirely in the right-hand box section. The firstperson concealed in the lower box then pushes his feet through the two sets of doors 3 and 6 and puts them in-the place of those of the first person. Prior to this substitution the upper box can be lifted 'in its entirety, with the second person therein, to make it appear that there is no deception. a The box 5 is then cut in half, that is, the insert strips 20 are cut, and the presumption is that the person whom the audience saw placed in the box, has met a like fate. The small doors 24 may now be raised and the panels. 23 slid down in their grooves 22, ostensibly to co box may then e separated, as shown in Fig. 7, and for effect the operator can walk through the space between the two halves.

If the box has been separated in this manner, the half which was withdrawn is pushed back into juxtaposition with the other, and

the panels 23 are removed; Then, while the attention of the audience is not upon the end of the box where the feet are projecting, the person in the box below removes his feet through the trap doors, whereupon the person drawn up in'the right half of the box above stretches out his legs and puts his feet through the openings. The change can be concealed, if desired, by carelessly placing on of the panels 23 in a leaning posi- I tion against the front of the box-so as to project beyond the end. The climax of the trick is reached when the top covers are lifted, the end slides are pulled out, and the person is lifted in the original posture from the box, whole and,

sound, to be restored to consciousness, apparently, by appropriate performance on the part of the demonstrator.

Preparatory to Q the operator sawing through the box, the person in the upper box, or the person in the lower box if the other person cannot use hishands', releases the catches 25.

Numerous changes may be made in the structure and in the procedure without de parting from the spirit of the invention. In some cases another formof screen for the The eal the bloody sight. The

person below mi ht be substituted for the lower box. Furt er,with clever'manipulat-ion, the lower box might be dispensed with and a pair of false legsused instead of the person concealed in said lower box.

In the claims the term extremities is used in a sense to include the portions of the person placed withinthat project at opposite ends of the box, including, specifically, the heads and hands at one end and the feet at the other end.

What I claim as new is:

1. An illusion device comprising a long and deep box container specially designed for'the herein described illusion of sawing the box and a person therein in half, the box being long and deep and having a top-lid permitting a person'to be placed in the box in an extended position, and the remote ends of the box being constructed to accommodate theextremities of the occupant so that they project in view of the audience, the body itself being concealed, and the box being further so designed that the occupant can pull his feet into the box and draw his legs up into the other half of the interior, the box being further provided with a suitable entrance throughwhich another'pair of feet can be introduced and projected outward through the foot openings in the box end, the relations being such that the saw can then pass transversely without harm.

2. An illusion device of the kind described comprising a box in which a person can be the box comprising two half sections, with inserts at the junction of the walls through which to saw inorder to make it appear that ihefbox and the person have been cut in 3. An illusion device of the kind described comprising a box in which a person can be placed in an extended position, the end walls of the box having openings through which the extremities are to project and comprising upper and lower sections, the upper sections being yertically removable and replaceable slides, the box being adapted to rmit the person to draw himself up in onehalf of the box while another pair of feet is substituted in the openings at the other end, so that'the box may then be sawed through making it appear that the person has been cut in half.

4. An illusion device of the kind described comprising a box in which a person can be placed in an extended position, hai ing openings in the ends through which the extremities are to project, and adapted to permit the person to draw himself up in one half of the box while another pairof 'feet is substituted in the openings in the other end,

ings in the ends through which, the extremities are to project, and adapted to permit the person to draw himself up in onehalf of the box while another pair of feet is substituted in the openings in the other end, whereby upon sawing through the box it will be made to appear that the person has been cut 'in'half, the box comprising two sections, with inserts bridging the junction of the walls, through which to saw, in combination with interior fastenings for. fastening the two sections of the box together so that it ma be lifted bodily.

6. An il usion device of the kind described comprising a box in which a person can be placed in an extended position and deep enough to permit the person to draw himself up in one half of the box, the box having openings and slides in the ends to accommodate the extremities,'a top cover, and a bottom door through which a pair of feet can be introduced from below and inserted through the foot openings,-substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. An illusion device of the kind described comprising a box in which a person can be placed in an extended position and deep enough to permit the person to draw himself up in one-half of the box and having openings the ends through which the extremities may project, the box being consti tuted of two sections, each having a hinged top cover, and inserts bridging the junctions of the sides, through which to saw.

8. An illusion device of the kind described comprising a box in which a person can be placed in an extended position and deep enough to permit the person to draw himself up in one-half of the box and having openings in the ends through which the extremities may project, the box being constituted of two sections, each having a hinged top cover and one having a. bottom door, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. An illusion device of the kind described; comprising a comparatively deep box in which a person can be placed in an extended position, the box having openingsin the ends through which the extremities are to project and a bottom opening toward the foot end, in combination with a screen for a person below, whereby the person below can put his legs up into one-half of the box and through the foot openings when the other person draws himself up into the other half of the box, permitting the box to besevered in order to create the illusion that the person within has been cut in half.

10. An illusion device of the kind described comprising a comparatively deep box in which a person can be placed in any 11. An illusion device as set forth in claim.

10, further'characterized by the guides on the lowerv box for the upper box.

12. An illusion device of the character described, comprising a comparatively deep upper box resting on a shallow lower box, the upper box being adapted to receive a person in an extended position with the extremities projecting through openings in the ends, and

the lower box being adapted to conceal another person, the two boxes having substantially registering trap-doors permitting the person in the lower box to substitute his feet for those of the person in the upper box, substantially as and for the urpose set forth.

HOR CE GOLDIN. 

